Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Google
Google has recently released a new major Android version, promising a long list of improvements and new capabilities that many users have been drooling over. What Google didn't promise was a significantly downgraded experience on Android Auto, as some users who installed Android 14 ended up struggling with a noticeable delay.
If you're not new to the Android Auto world, you probably remember that every new version of Android caused significant problems for users running the in-car experience.
Android 11, Android 12, and Android 13 launched with Android Auto bugs that Google really struggled to fix, in some cases making users wait up to several months to get a patch.
Android 14 makes no exception, though hopefully, the search giant will come up with fixes much faster this time.
The new operating system causes a noticeable lag in every app, making Android Auto less responsive overall. The application needs up to several seconds to respond to touch input, so if you're in motion and want to report an incident on Waze, for example, it's nearly impossible to do it after the update.
The lag isn't the only problem on Android 14, as I'm also seeing reports from users who installed the new operating system claiming that the navigation is so slow that it sometimes loses GPS tracking. Google Maps and Waze can't follow users on the map, so their turn-by-turn guidance no longer makes sense.
Some users claim that audio apps, such as Spotify and YouTube Music, crash in the middle of the driver, with the music playback also slow and suffering from poor audio quality. The issue doesn't seem to be specific to a single app, with most users blaming Android 14 for the experience.
Someone says Android Auto voice commands are also broken down after the installation of Android 14 on the device. Others claim that voice directions, such as those provided by Google Maps, Waze, or other navigation apps, stop in the middle of a sentence. In theory, the issue could be caused by Google Assistant or the navigation app, but in this case, the behavior appeared after the update to Android 14.
All these problems are still occasional and sporadic right now, but it's most likely because only a few users received Android 14. The new operating system is currently available for a limited number of devices, with Android device makers to start shipping the update to their models in the coming weeks and months.
Google has yet to acknowledge the Android Auto problems, but as it happened when the company rolled out the previous OS updates, you'd better not hold your breath for patches. However, it'll be interesting to see how many people end up struggling with Android Auto after installing Android 14 on their smartphones.
Android 11, Android 12, and Android 13 launched with Android Auto bugs that Google really struggled to fix, in some cases making users wait up to several months to get a patch.
Android 14 makes no exception, though hopefully, the search giant will come up with fixes much faster this time.
The new operating system causes a noticeable lag in every app, making Android Auto less responsive overall. The application needs up to several seconds to respond to touch input, so if you're in motion and want to report an incident on Waze, for example, it's nearly impossible to do it after the update.
The lag isn't the only problem on Android 14, as I'm also seeing reports from users who installed the new operating system claiming that the navigation is so slow that it sometimes loses GPS tracking. Google Maps and Waze can't follow users on the map, so their turn-by-turn guidance no longer makes sense.
Some users claim that audio apps, such as Spotify and YouTube Music, crash in the middle of the driver, with the music playback also slow and suffering from poor audio quality. The issue doesn't seem to be specific to a single app, with most users blaming Android 14 for the experience.
Someone says Android Auto voice commands are also broken down after the installation of Android 14 on the device. Others claim that voice directions, such as those provided by Google Maps, Waze, or other navigation apps, stop in the middle of a sentence. In theory, the issue could be caused by Google Assistant or the navigation app, but in this case, the behavior appeared after the update to Android 14.
All these problems are still occasional and sporadic right now, but it's most likely because only a few users received Android 14. The new operating system is currently available for a limited number of devices, with Android device makers to start shipping the update to their models in the coming weeks and months.
Google has yet to acknowledge the Android Auto problems, but as it happened when the company rolled out the previous OS updates, you'd better not hold your breath for patches. However, it'll be interesting to see how many people end up struggling with Android Auto after installing Android 14 on their smartphones.
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